Movie, Book and Television reviews...
Feb. 18th, 2023 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Rented Ticket to Paradise via On Demand for $5.95 or thereabouts.
Gad-awful film. I texted Wales during it..."It's as if George Clooney and Julia Roberts somehow fell into a Hallmark Movie in Bali and are really annoyed about it. I keep wondering if the writers survived the experience? Clooney looks like he's going to mutiny soon and take out the film crew. I'm asking myself how they got roped into making it, were they blackmailed?"
It is funny in places. They go swimming with Dolphins, and a Dolphin attacks George Clooney. [This is actually realistic, considering male Dolphins are sexually aggressive animals and known for going into attack mode when well...in mating season. ]
The filmmakers kind of ignore the fact that it is a Muslim country, and women are supposed to be covered up most of the time. Or they can't quite make up their minds?
But mainly Clooney and Roberts bicker throughout the film, while everyone else tries not to look miserable about it. I think they had more fun on the outtakes.
I was discussing this with mother, we can't decide if there's something wrong with us? We both find Hallmark films unwatchable now, also films similar to them. I barely made it through Ticket to Paradise...which I can't quite decide if it was supposed to be a satire on a Hallmark Rom-Com. Maybe unintentionally?
2. The Twisted Ones by TKingfisher is actually good. It's compelling. And creepy. The writer builds suspense well by doing very little. Simplicity is best. The more cluttered a story - the quicker you will lose the reader.
[Looks at Picard S2 as an example - it's very cluttered. I'm getting bored. We have five or six divergent story threads going on here. (On the bright side - it does develop all of the characters fairly well.) Plus the ever-annoying time travel conundrum - which is something was changed in the past to create a dystopian future and now we all have to rush back and fix it. Folks? That's not how time travel works. If they changed something in the past - they wouldn't change your present, they'd create a parallel universe. Your present still exists. You can't change what was already written. You create a new timeline. And no, you can't go back to your present - that becomes your past, your present is now the time you are in - in the new timeline that you created.
One way of understanding this is say you don't like how Buffy ended? Or BattleStar Galatica? Or whatever? So, you decided to write your own ending, changing bits and pieces here and there. Buffy the original creation is still there, it still ends the same, and still continues the same. You've just created a whole new verse and story thread. Your fanfiction is a brand new Buffyverse, parallel to the original.
This is why time travel stories annoy me. Time travel = parallel string theory or multi-verse. Star Trek the Next Generation and Voyager got it, Picard's writers apparently do not. I honestly think the previous writing teams were better at the science bits. Writing science fiction is hard - you have to juggle a lot of things to do it right. ]
Anyhow back to the Twisted Ones. The writer is playing with supernatural horror - and to do that right, you have to build it slowly, and pull the reader deep into the characters pov. I have to believe in the characters. And she's pulling it off. I believe in the characters, I care about them, and I can visualize the setting. Within These Wicked Walls? I didn't believe in them, and kept falling out of the story.
I want to keep reading even though all that is happening at the moment is the character is cleaning out her grandmother's decrepit house in the North Carolina rural woods, with a housing commune across the street. She has a basset hound, who is endearing as is the protagonist, a freelance editor named Mouse (nickname for Melissa).
3. This brings me to a television horror series that I tried today, and did not work for me at all - Mayfair Witches. This is just bad. The casting, the script, the production value - it's all cheaply done. Shocking considering how good Interview with the Vampire's cast was and production value. But Mayfair Witches was just cheap.
I don't know what's up with cable or prime time cable television these days - but their scripted series are poorly done. If you want quality - you have to go watch things on streaming. It wasn't always like this, just in the past year or so. The film stock is kind of cheap. I don't know what's up.
I'd say it was my television - but streaming comes out fine, as does PBS.
And rented films. (I still have that weird streak - but I'm getting used to it and no clue how to fix it...)
Mother tried Will Trent and was less than enthused. We're going to try the new spy romance on Sunday night - but I have low expectations.
Anyhow, I didn't delete Mayfair yet from the DVR, but it's just a matter of time. I'm disappointed, AMC usually has better quality.
4. Finished Bake Squad - this is basically a stress-free or friendly baking competition between four young accomplished and professional bakers at the top of their field, and their chef coordinator who assists them. People solicit them to create a show-stopping desert for a big event. The customer comes - explains the event, how many will be there, what the people like, etc. Then the four bakers have about three-four hours to create something amazing. The customer comes back, tastes each of the creations with the chef coordinator, then they choose which one they want at their event - and the winner gets their picture and desert on the wall, and featured at that event.
That's it. There's about five-six episodes per season. The things they make are impossible for anyone who isn't a professional to bake. And most of them I wouldn't want. So it's easier to watch than a lot of these things are.
5. Is it just me or are there one too many superhero films that have been released in the last ten years? I mean I used to think you can never have too many superhero films...but this is getting a bit ridiculous? We have over fifty of them now. Granted, I admittedly feel the need to see all of them - so that's technically on me. And I may be part of the reason there are over fifty superhero films...?
Gad-awful film. I texted Wales during it..."It's as if George Clooney and Julia Roberts somehow fell into a Hallmark Movie in Bali and are really annoyed about it. I keep wondering if the writers survived the experience? Clooney looks like he's going to mutiny soon and take out the film crew. I'm asking myself how they got roped into making it, were they blackmailed?"
It is funny in places. They go swimming with Dolphins, and a Dolphin attacks George Clooney. [This is actually realistic, considering male Dolphins are sexually aggressive animals and known for going into attack mode when well...in mating season. ]
The filmmakers kind of ignore the fact that it is a Muslim country, and women are supposed to be covered up most of the time. Or they can't quite make up their minds?
But mainly Clooney and Roberts bicker throughout the film, while everyone else tries not to look miserable about it. I think they had more fun on the outtakes.
I was discussing this with mother, we can't decide if there's something wrong with us? We both find Hallmark films unwatchable now, also films similar to them. I barely made it through Ticket to Paradise...which I can't quite decide if it was supposed to be a satire on a Hallmark Rom-Com. Maybe unintentionally?
2. The Twisted Ones by TKingfisher is actually good. It's compelling. And creepy. The writer builds suspense well by doing very little. Simplicity is best. The more cluttered a story - the quicker you will lose the reader.
[Looks at Picard S2 as an example - it's very cluttered. I'm getting bored. We have five or six divergent story threads going on here. (On the bright side - it does develop all of the characters fairly well.) Plus the ever-annoying time travel conundrum - which is something was changed in the past to create a dystopian future and now we all have to rush back and fix it. Folks? That's not how time travel works. If they changed something in the past - they wouldn't change your present, they'd create a parallel universe. Your present still exists. You can't change what was already written. You create a new timeline. And no, you can't go back to your present - that becomes your past, your present is now the time you are in - in the new timeline that you created.
One way of understanding this is say you don't like how Buffy ended? Or BattleStar Galatica? Or whatever? So, you decided to write your own ending, changing bits and pieces here and there. Buffy the original creation is still there, it still ends the same, and still continues the same. You've just created a whole new verse and story thread. Your fanfiction is a brand new Buffyverse, parallel to the original.
This is why time travel stories annoy me. Time travel = parallel string theory or multi-verse. Star Trek the Next Generation and Voyager got it, Picard's writers apparently do not. I honestly think the previous writing teams were better at the science bits. Writing science fiction is hard - you have to juggle a lot of things to do it right. ]
Anyhow back to the Twisted Ones. The writer is playing with supernatural horror - and to do that right, you have to build it slowly, and pull the reader deep into the characters pov. I have to believe in the characters. And she's pulling it off. I believe in the characters, I care about them, and I can visualize the setting. Within These Wicked Walls? I didn't believe in them, and kept falling out of the story.
I want to keep reading even though all that is happening at the moment is the character is cleaning out her grandmother's decrepit house in the North Carolina rural woods, with a housing commune across the street. She has a basset hound, who is endearing as is the protagonist, a freelance editor named Mouse (nickname for Melissa).
3. This brings me to a television horror series that I tried today, and did not work for me at all - Mayfair Witches. This is just bad. The casting, the script, the production value - it's all cheaply done. Shocking considering how good Interview with the Vampire's cast was and production value. But Mayfair Witches was just cheap.
I don't know what's up with cable or prime time cable television these days - but their scripted series are poorly done. If you want quality - you have to go watch things on streaming. It wasn't always like this, just in the past year or so. The film stock is kind of cheap. I don't know what's up.
I'd say it was my television - but streaming comes out fine, as does PBS.
And rented films. (I still have that weird streak - but I'm getting used to it and no clue how to fix it...)
Mother tried Will Trent and was less than enthused. We're going to try the new spy romance on Sunday night - but I have low expectations.
Anyhow, I didn't delete Mayfair yet from the DVR, but it's just a matter of time. I'm disappointed, AMC usually has better quality.
4. Finished Bake Squad - this is basically a stress-free or friendly baking competition between four young accomplished and professional bakers at the top of their field, and their chef coordinator who assists them. People solicit them to create a show-stopping desert for a big event. The customer comes - explains the event, how many will be there, what the people like, etc. Then the four bakers have about three-four hours to create something amazing. The customer comes back, tastes each of the creations with the chef coordinator, then they choose which one they want at their event - and the winner gets their picture and desert on the wall, and featured at that event.
That's it. There's about five-six episodes per season. The things they make are impossible for anyone who isn't a professional to bake. And most of them I wouldn't want. So it's easier to watch than a lot of these things are.
5. Is it just me or are there one too many superhero films that have been released in the last ten years? I mean I used to think you can never have too many superhero films...but this is getting a bit ridiculous? We have over fifty of them now. Granted, I admittedly feel the need to see all of them - so that's technically on me. And I may be part of the reason there are over fifty superhero films...?
no subject
Date: 2023-02-19 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 12:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 11:24 pm (UTC)* Regarding Bali? I recently discovered while researching trips to Bali - that yes, they are fairly strict. (And for the most part that movie followed that dictate). I was admittedly surprised when I figured it out too - because I assumed it was just a tourist destination - it's not. According to the travel agency, G Adventures - they are strict. We tend to assume that just because a destination is a popular tourist destination that we can wear whatever we want? This isn't exactly true. In Bali - bikinis are frowned on, one piece bathing suits, long skirts, long shorts, short sleeves, long sleeves, scarves are all highly recommended. It's a Muslim country.
Go here - they go into the type of dress required
I mean, if you are only planning on staying in a resort - then maybe? But it's not really a beach destination, it's a country. With temples. And historic sites. It's not like the Thailand islands, where you can live on a sailboat and do what you want - according to the travel sites.
no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 05:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-02-20 10:59 pm (UTC)I can't do horror stories about dolls. My mother has an extensive doll collection and a lot of those dolls were mine. I had a doll collection growing up, which I wasn't that into. I won't watch horror movies about dolls, and I won't read books about them. HARD PASS. That's the sort of thing that would give me nightmares. (I'm guessing you missed my post on this? Someone on Twitter warned me about that horrible book - "How to Sell a Haunted House" which is a bait and switch - they warned me it was about evil puppets. I kind of wrote about it several months back?)
And yes, I've already read Grady Hendrix. Several years ago. It was a slog. Sorry. Maybe his other books are better? But I barely got through the one I read, so passed on the others. I'll see if I can't find the review - found it.. We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix.
I didn't like it. Can't remember the book that well. So didn't bother with any of his other books.
Reading remains a subjective activity. Unfortunately. And if you don't like a writer's style - that's kind of it? And I really disliked his writing style. He seems a bit full of himself.